ISS Advance

Anyone who's played footy games as long as EG has will know two
basic facts: firstly that a stock of spare controllers is necessary
during particularly competitive occasions, and secondly that
handheld attempts at recreating the beautiful game are almost
always complete rubbish. Admittedly the arrival of the GBA 18
months ago helped matters a touch, but even the best that have
arrived in that period are half arsed approximations of the 32 bit
era.

The abject failure of Codemasters to recognise the value of its
Sensible Soccer franchise on the GBA has presented an enormous gap
in the market for an enterprising publisher to fill - but even the
mighty EA found out recently with its super low selling FIFA 2003
that the apathy among the 1.5 million GBA owners in the UK is rife.
The fact is we want value for our £34.99, and unless the
game's an absolute bona fide triple A classic, we're not going to
be remotely interested.

This is the one?

Given that this is Konami's
second attempt at a footy game on the GBA, there was a fair amount
of optimism that this could at last be "the one". After all, this
is the same publisher that regularly churns out the Winning
Eleven/Pro Evolution series to blanket acclaim. Surely a port of
one of one of its N64/PSX mid '90s efforts can't be beyond them?

But last time around it most certainly was beyond them. A quick
refresher of that one reveals itself to be an unplayable wobbly
sprite travesty - and we're more than happy to report the latest,
identically titled effort has improved matters no end. It has all
the usual bells and whistles you expect in a portable footy title:
respectable visuals, a two player link mode, commentary (from John
Champion, once again), a plethora of
formation/weather/difficulty/match length options, as well as
Friendly, Penalty Shoot Out, Superstar and 58 team International
Cup modes.

But the less said about the team situation, the better. The lack of
a FIFPro license has made it a mockery of a sham once more, with no
recognisable player names allowed, so we've ended up with such
laughable replacements as Syelma (Seaman?), Bohaen (Owen?), Dekkaan
(Beckham?) and Eescei (Heskey?!). No clubs are included either,
which is also a bit annoying for anyone hoping more for their
£35.

Lookin' good

But at least the game resembles a
football match these days. The viewpoint has been zoomed out this
time to allow you to actually have a chance of seeing where your
players are, and the animation has come on leaps and bounds
compared to the bizarre, stilted stickmen of 2001's effort. Gone,
also, is the slightly unhelpful isometric viewpoint, with a more
traditional touchline view making it far easier to get an idea of
what's going on. Weather also plays a part, with regular downpours
helping to add to the atmosphere, although in all honesty we didn't
really notice a significant difference to the play.

Despite the obvious lack of buttons, the control system has a
surprising amount of options. The usual defensive and attacking
system is employed, with A providing a weak pass/marking, B for a
strong pass/sliding tackle, L for sprint, R for selecting players,
with combinations of the buttons providing opportunities to show
off with overhead kicks, headers, aftertouch and the obligatory
through pass. Although using the shoulder buttons for any length of
time is still the most uncomfortable experience in gaming, it's a
system that any footy veteran will slip straight into. The main
limitations are down to the relative lack of animation compared to
more recent incarnations on the PS2 - sometimes going back to old
style 3D football games makes you realise how far things have come.

Attempting the kind of flash tricks that Pro Evo veterans will be
used to just isn't an option here. You'll be turning the clock back
to the days when the ball was glued to your foot with stilted
comedy shots abound. The problem in ISS seems to be keeping the
ball from going over the bar - often we'd end up with 20 odd shots
on goal per game, but still only have a couple of goals to show for
it, while the overly forgiving refs almost always turned a blind
eye to our rabid Vinnie Jones antics. It's hardly fair to compare
this mid 90s fare with the next gen versions, but somehow you can't
help it. We've been spoiled. Things have moved on so much, and it's
not just a visual difference unlike so many genres.

The best football game on the GBA

In the context of the platform and the competition, it's easy to
see that ISS Advance easily tops anyone else's handheld attempts
and as such offers the best football experience on the GBA. Just
don't expect it to mirror the kind of high gloss football
entertainment possible on the current crop of consoles - and thanks
to the limitations of the GBA expect your hands and eyes to hurt
like hell after a few hours wrestling and peering into the gloom.
How it performs on the SP will be another matter entirely, and it
could well be worth hanging on until the March 28th release of the
redesigned GBA to find out.